Deals of the week: Mercedes, BMW, Jeep Cherokee, Jaguar XJL

The race is coming down to the wire between Mercedes-Benz and BMW. To retain the crown of No. 1 premium brand in Canada, Mercedes has a lead of just 706 units over BMW – 28,265 to 27,559.

That's a big story. Just as big, says auto analyst Dennis DesRosiers in a note to clients, is the emergence of the German brands, which collectively "keep growing out of proportion with the rest of the market."

In November, Mercedes Benz was up 16.2 per cent, BMW up 19.6 per cent, Audi up by 30.0 per cent, and Volkswagen up 2.1 per cent. As a group, adds DesRosiers, "the European brands are tracking at an all-time high market share in Canada, breaking 10 per cent as a group for the first time ever."

BMW would dearly love to reclaim the No. 1 spot from Mercedes, make no mistake. All year the Bavarian auto maker has been out-performing Mercedes. BMW brand sales are up 10.5 per cent on the year, while Mercedes brand sales have increased 6.5 per cent through the end of November.

This explains why a note wearing this headline popped into my mailbox this week:

"IT'S ALWAYS A GOOD TIME TO DRIVE HOME A BMW. BUT THIS IS THE BEST TIME!"

The BMW dealer involved used the e-mail to announce "The BMW Ultimate Year End Sales Event" – touting "the 2011 BMW 328i xDrive for only $328 a month with a lease rate of 0.9% or finance for only 0.9% with cash incentives of $4100. It's our best pricing of the year and its happening right now."

And then, as anyone in sales knows to do, the urgency tag came at the end: These offers are "only available until Jan. 3rd."

Naturally, Mercedes is countering. For instance, the 2011 C-Class 4MATIC 3.0 is being pushed with a $2,050 factory-to-dealer incentive on cash purchases, or 1.25 per cent for up to five years. If you bargain hard, you should also be able to squeeze out more in a dealer incentive, too.

Of course you'll find many auto makers beyond the Germans pushing year-end clear out specials, Boxing Week sales, Christmas promotions and so on. The holiday season has turned into a major selling opportunity almost across the board.

Beyond the offers out there in the race for No. 1, Deals of the Week also likes the Jeep offer on the Grand Cherokee: $3,500 in cash that can be combined with 4.99 per cent financing for up to eight years. The reinvented Grand Cherokee is an excellent sport utility, one based on mechanical underpinnings shared with the new Mercedes-Benz ML.

And while this delicious offer on the gorgeous Jaguar XJL was officially set to expire at the end of November, Deals is confident it is likely to continue through December, or be replaced by something similar: cash incentives of nearly $17,000 that can be combined with a lease rate of 2.99 per cent for 30 months. Don't forget to work on getting a dealer incentive in the negotiations, too.

As usual, Deals of the Week obtained pricing information from www.carcostcanada.com, among other sources Here are the numbers.

2011 Mercedes-Benz C-Class 3.0L 4MATIC

MSRP: $44,900

Freight, dealer prep, air conditioning tax: $2,095

Dealer discount (estimated): $2,000

Factory discount: $2,050 (Direct Support for Cash purchases factory-to-dealer rebate)

Taxable subtotal: $42,945

Total price with 13% HST: $48,527.45

Note: 1.25% for up to five years that is not stackable with cash incentives

2011 BMW 328i xDrive AWD (limited availability)

MSRP: $44,000

Freight, air conditioning tax and dealer prep: $2,095

Dealer discount: $2,000

Factory discount: $3,100 (Alternate Cash factory-to-dealer rebate)

Taxable subtotal: $40,995

Total price with 13% HST: $46,324.35

Note: this program was set to expire on Nov. 30 and appears to have been updated with richer incentives based on dealer information.

2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited

MSRP: $46,995

Freight, dealer prep and air conditioning tax and Green Levy: $2,500

Dealer discount (estimated): $1,500

Factory discount: $3,000 (Consumer Cash Discount factory-to-dealer incentive)

Factory discount: $500 (Holiday Bonus factory-to-customer)

Taxable subtotal: $44,49

Total price with 13% HST: $50,279.35

Note: Can be combined with 4.99% financing

2011 Jaguar XJL

MSRP: $95,500

Freight, dealer prep: $1,460

Dealer discount (estimated): $4,000

Factory discount: $11,900 (Lease for Cash factory-to-dealer rebate)

Taxable subtotal: $81,060

Total price with 13% HST: $91,597.80

Factory discount: $5,000 (Loyalty Cash factory-to-customer rebate)

Final price: $86,597.80

Note: Lease for Cash offer must be combined with 2.9% lease rate for 30 months

Pricing information source: www.carcostcanada.com. Calculations based on Ontario customers. Please note that while the information above is accurate at the time of publication, incentives are given at the discretion of individual dealers, and may be changed or discontinued at any time. Dealer discounts are negotiated with the customer on a case-by-case basis.